Now we all get one of the greatest gifts offered by professional sports — Game 7.

Following their weak performance in Game 5 and even weaker analysis afterward, we suggested in this space that the Lakers shut up, show up and man up in Game 6.

Man, did they ever Tuesday, bruising and bullying the Celtics throughout and eventually burying Boston, too, 89-67.

The Lakers ...

Wait, 67? Points? Total? On a night that could have brought the Celtics another NBA championship?

Was the game called after three quarters because of rain? Or was that just Lakers' sweat pouring down on Boston?

Sixty-seven doesn't sound like a team's offensive output in the NBA Finals. Sixty-seven sounds like a great year to have purchased a Mustang.

"Lakers' pride," Sasha Vujacic said. "That's all."

OK, that sounds a little hokey. And, sure, Vujacic wasn't the star Laker, but he did hit two 3-pointers and score nine points, and he represented well the fact that, before this one was over, both coaches had emptied their benches.

That's the sort of thing that happens before college teams begin conference play, not when one NBA team is looking to close out the Finals.

But that's how dominant the Lakers were and exactly when they needed to be, only 48 hours after they looked like groupies marveling at being in the presence of their idol, Kobe Bryant.

This — and not standing at a postgame podium nor uttering clichés to a bunch of sportswriters — is how statements are made in a playoff series:

Ron Artest floors Rajon Rondo, the result of Boston's point guard running face-first into Artest's elbow. This comes after Artest already has hit three 3-pointers and provided the sort of boost absent the previous two games.

"Ron's such a nice guy," teammate Luke Walton said. "That's why we all go crazy when he starts making shots."

Jordan Farmar belly-flops onto unforgiving hardwood, beating Rondo to a loose ball. This comes before Farmar runs out for a breakaway dunk, thrusting the ball down before Kevin Garnett can catch him.

Pau Gasol grabs more rebounds than all the Celtics combined in the first quarter. This comes before Gasol, upset at first being hit in the face and then later tripped by Paul Pierce, stands menacingly over a fallen Pierce until Lamar Odom yanks his teammate away.

"I'm really happy about the team," Gasol said. "The way we played defensively, the activity, the intensity, just everything was very, very positive and very together. I just did my part, I guess."

Gasol did his part, plus. And it wasn't just his 17 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists or the fact he still was matching Boston's entire team rebound-for-rebound until the middle of the second quarter.

It also was the way Gasol approached the start of this game, like it was his last, which it would have been for this season had the Lakers not come with the sort of energy Gasol displayed.

Rather than pulling up on an early play, he charged at the rim and scored over Garnett. He absorbed a slap on the cheek and a poke in the face in the first quarter and just kept playing. He was active and engaged, ridiculously so compared to Game 5.

"Pau was sensational," Bryant said. "He just played a great game, single coverage, scoring the ball. (When he) was double-teamed, he made plays for others."

Amazing that this was the same Lakers team that largely wilted Sunday. After a long plane flight and two short days, the Lakers re-emerged with hustle, grit and want, tons of want.

Attitude, that's what the Lakers arrived with Tuesday. In that regard, this wasn't the same Lakers team we witnessed in Game 5.

"For us, it was execution," Bryant said. "You didn't see us blow too many assignments ... And then on top of that, we had a lot of effort behind the execution and because of that we had a big win."

Before the game, Coach Phil Jackson said he had a good feeling about the Lakers, that he sensed his team was ready to play well. Specifically, he noted that the Lakers hadn't "dropped their dobber."

It's unlikely either coach will be asked about dobber position entering Thursday's Finals finale.

"No different to me," Bryant insisted of the impending Game 7. "I don't mean to be a buzz kill, but it's not. I know what's at stake, but I'm not tripping."

All the Lakers, though, were back to talking Tuesday. After the game, yes, but more so during – talking, even screaming, about their desire to be champions again.

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